UPDATE 1-Pakistani attacked in India jail over Indian prisoner's death

UPDATE 1-Pakistani attacked in India jail over Indian prisoner's death

Source :

Last Updated: Fri, May 03, 2013 10:10 hrs

(Adds detail from Singh funeral)

By Ashok Pahalwan

JAMMU, India, May 3 (Reuters) - A Pakistani prisoner was
badly beaten in an Indian jail on Friday in apparent revenge for
a fatal attack on an Indian jailed for spying in Pakistan whose
death has led to an outpouring of anger and strained ties
between the neighbours.

Sanaullah Haq was being treated for severe head injuries in
hospital in the northern Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir,
which borders Pakistan and has seen serious territorial disputes
between the nuclear-powered nations.

"He was rushed to Jammu Medical College Hospital in critical
condition as he had suffered severe head injury in the attack.
We are making arrangements for critical care ambulance to shift
him to Chandigarh or New Delhi for treatment," said Rajni
Sehgal, superintendent of the Kotbawal jail where the attack
happened.

The assault came a day after the death of Sarabjit Singh,
convicted of spying and bomb blasts in Pakistan. He was
hospitalized last week after two inmates attacked him in jail in
the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore.

India's government and his family maintain he was an
innocent farmer and he is considered a martyr by many in India.

Thousands gathered in Singh's home town near the border in
the state of Punjab, which was divided when India and Pakistan
were partitioned at the end of British rule in 1947.

Wrapped in an Indian flag, his coffin was carried through
the streets before his cremation on Friday. Some shouted "Death
to Pakistan". Police played the Last Post and gave a 21-gun
salute at a state funeral organized by the Punjab government.

Crowded on rooftops and balconies in the summer heat, people
watched the preparations amid heavy security deployed for
dignitaries like Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi
dynasty, who attended the service.

Protesters took to the streets in several cities for a
second day. India has accused Pakistan of not doing enough to
protect Singh.

Several Indian states beefed up security in their jails.
Many states already keep Pakistani prisoners segregated from
their Indian counterparts.

Pakistan said the assault on Haq was "condemnable" and
called on India to punish the attacker. India said it regretted
the incident and promised consular access to Haq once his
condition had stabilized.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947,
although they began a peace process in 2004. They remain deeply
suspicious of each other.

The latest flare-up follows an outbreak of violence in
Kashmir in January, where two Pakistani and two Indian soldiers
were killed.

Despite the recent strains, relations have improved after
nose-diving in 2008 when gunmen killed 166 people in Mumbai in a
three-day rampage that India blamed on a Pakistani militant
group. Last year, India hanged Pakistani citizen Ajmal Kasab,
who was convicted of taking part in that attack.
(Additional reporting by Fayaz Bukhari and Katherine Houreld;
Writing by Annie Banerji; Editing by Frank Jack Daniel and Nick
Macfie)